Chipotle Fajitas with Iron Horse IPA

We have been talking about doing a food and beer pairing blog for awhile now. We were supposed to start at the beginning of summer, so we feel like the end of July is pretty good. Our focus is on creating recipes that are relatively simple, yet delicious, especially when paired with Iron Horse beers. We aren’t serious foodies, but we enjoy experimenting with blending flavors and we like a good meal that can be made quickly. We will try to focus on seasonally available, local ingredients when possible.

We are going to start off our food and beer pairing blog with a simple recipe designed by Regan in her kitchen, with Natalia as her tasting buddy, after they have hiked for two hours and had a little wine. So, let’s keep the expectations low people.

Start by pan-searing the meat. While it’s cooking cut the onions in pretty big chunks. Then cut the peppers in longer strips (after removing sticker, which Regan forgot to do- it’s a little chewy even when heated). And slice the mushrooms unless you were clever enough to buy them pre-sliced. When the meat is partially cooked, add the onions, peppers, and mushrooms and continue stir-frying. Let cook for a little bit. Cut up a chipotle if you like extra heat and add it to cooking vegetables.

Mix 1 tsp of garlic salt, salt, pepper, onion powder, cumin, and paprika. You can decide on varying amounts of spices depending on how you are feeling. You just need about ¼ cup of spice mix in total to add to meat and vegetable mixture.

Add ¼ -1/2 cup water and spice mix to fajita and vegetables. Let them continue cooking and allow sauce to thicken and reduce, coating the meat and veggies. Stir thoroughly.

Take 3-4 chipotle peppers and some adobo sauce and drizzle in some olive oil, ½ cup of sour cream, and some fresh lime juice and blend it all up in a cuisinart. If you don’t have one, well, be creative or chop it small, and blend with a whisk.

You can fry your tortillas in vegetable oil if you want to crisp them up, but probably you shouldn’t, if you are going to pair this with beer, which obviously, you are . . . and our recommendation is Iron Horse IPA.

So take your fried or unfried tortilla and slather it with adobo/sour cream sauce and then fill with steak/vegetable mix. Add grated cheddar cheese if that’s your kind of thing. Grab your bottle/glass of IPA and enjoy.

Pairing notes: The bitterness in the IPA should help cut through the spice in the chipotle sauce, cleansing your palate for the next bite. The floral hop flavors pick up the essence of the lime and the peppers and complement them nicely.

If you show us a receipt, so we know you are legit, we will give you a $6.00 growler fill of the IPA so you can try this pairing for yourself. If we are out of the IPA, which could happen, you can have a $6.00 growler of your next favorite as a pairing option.

And we’ll leave you with this . . . “I thoriously (seriously) love cooking”, Regan Rinker’s cooking quote of the evening. Stay tuned for more awesome, totally un-certified recipes put together mostly last minute, by two loyal beer and food fans!